


Unwise Adventures

by lha



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Episode Related, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, S3:E2 Far From Home
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27247465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lha/pseuds/lha
Summary: Set around and directly after S3:E2 Far From Home - so **SPOILERS** up to and including that episode.Hugh picks up the pieces after Paul's unwise adventure.
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Comments: 9
Kudos: 73





	Unwise Adventures

Hugh couldn’t even remember when he’d last slept, when any of them had, and he knew that the adrenaline that was keeping the skeleton crew going would eventually fail. They didn’t know where (or even when) they were, but they’d made it and the fact that they’d manage to find signs of life implied that they might just have been successful in their mission. For Hugh though, the high he was riding on was more immediate than that success though; when he’d seen Paul being dragged into the sickbay, he had suddenly known with absolute certainty that he was where he was supposed to be.

He’d been caught up with another patient when the first cycle of cellular regeneration was due to finish so Hugh wasn’t at all surprised to find no sign of Paul when he made it back to the chamber down the hall. Rather than being angry though, Hugh found himself shaking his head with a fond smile. Paul was an absolute liability to his own health but he had at least let the initial treatment finish and given the circumstances, Hugh was never going to be able keep him down for long. A couple of hours later and he was just considering the possibility of making it to his still-packed kit bag for a change of uniform when Nillson jogged up and almost dragged him off at Reno’s request with nothing more than the hypospray he had in his hand.

The fact that Jett had taken one look at the triage queue and declared she’d cope with the most basic of treatment was just as on brand for her as Paul’s absconding was for him. The Jeffries tube though… “What are you doing Paul?” he asked looking at the footage on Jett’s PADD. “You’re in a Jeffries Tube - what the hell were you thinking!?”

“Hey, genius, he’s stuck in a tube, in a ship, in a vice and he’s bleeding all over the place,” Jett pointed out. “Argue about this later.” His colour was awful and while Hugh couldn’t see the blood he would bet his favourite tee that he was bleeding internally even if the wound hadn’t reopened. 

“Listen, Paul,” he tried again, softening his tone. “Everything’s gonna be alright. We’re gonna focus on one moment at a time, okay? And we’re going to do all of this slowly and carefully. Because I need you out of there alive so I can kill you.” Really, what the hell had he been thinking? He might have been alright for basic tasks or instructing some poor crewman to do his bidding but he certainly hadn’t been fit to climb the ladder never mind crawl through the tube.

“Stamets I know you love the sound of my voice,” said Jett cutting in and giving Hugh a pointed look.

“You realize this is my nightmare?” Paul replied, the sardonic tone not really covering his distress.

“I live to serve,” Jett replied. “Use your multi-tool to open that compartment.” She was talking him through the repair, clearly aware that they were running out of time. “Take hold of the infuser matrix and remove it.” The ship shuddered beneath them and Paul cried out.

“Easy breathing, okay?” Hugh said, trying to tamp down on his own growing concern. “Try to slow it all down if you can.”

“Pull out the damaged anodyne circuit,” Jett pushed him on. “Replace it with the new one”

There was another rumble, the ship creaking and groaning harder than before and Hugh tried to brace himself and Jett without looking away from the image of Paul on the screen.

“Now replace the infuser matrix,” Jett pushed on through her own discomfort, willing him on.

“I think I… Did I do it?” Paul asked, as around them the lights began to flicker back on.

“Yes, yes you did.”

“Hugh? Thanks. Jett, thanks for nothing.”

“Back at you, bobcat.”

“Bobcat?” Hugh asked, this finally enough to break through his shock.

“I don’t know,” Jett said with a shrug, “I’m on drugs.”

He might have followed it up but Paul’s voice from the PADD broke back in, “Hugh…” He was slurring now. 

“Paul, Paul stay with me,” Hugh said, glancing around and cursing himself for only having brought his hypo-spray with him. “I don’t suppose we’ve got transporters back up?” He asked.

“Not yet,” Reno said seriously, “and no comms either. You go to him and I’ll go get help.”

“Jett,” he said warily.

“I might not be fast but I can walk just about walk, buttercup,” she said levering herself up. “You’ll need help to get him out. I’ll find a body and send them your way.” Hugh only paused for a moment before giving her a tight nod.

Hugh climbed the ladder quickly and pulled himself up and into the Jefferies tube. He followed the crawl space along and then as it curved he followed his instincts until he could hear Paul’s laboured breathing. “Paul,” he breathed, taking half a moment to gather himself before he crawled alongside the other man.

“Hurts…” Paul whimpered.

“I’m not surprised. Idiot.” 

“Your idiot,” he said, his head lolling but the corner of his mouth twitching up. 

“Yes,” Hugh agreed, brushing Paul’s cheek with his lips. “Yes, you are.” He pressed down on the wound which was bleeding freely again. Paul groaned in response, his eyes fluttering. “Oh no you don’t, you keep those eyes on me,” Hugh said firmly. Paul’s skin was clammy and his lips were pale; the dark blue of his uniform had been masking the extent of the blood he’d clearly been losing for some time.

There was another shudder as the metal around them protested and shook and instinctively Hugh leaned further over Paul and tried to shield him.

“Dr Culber?” Came a voice from behind them. “I’ve got a medkit and there’s a stretcher coming.”

“Hear that Paul? That’s your ride out of here. Jett’s going to love watching us lower you down on that,” he said before turning to look at the ensign. “Give me the field packing and then the pressure dressings,” he instructed. “Paul? That’s it, I need you to stay with me. No!” Hugh freed up a hand now slick with blood and gripped Paul’s jaw. “Stay with me Paul!” His pulse was thready beneath Hugh’s fingers now though and his eyes were unfocussed, his blinks longer.

“Packing,” the Ensign said, holding it out and Hugh reached for it automatically. Peeling back Paul’s shirt he pressed in absorbent material to the leaking wound before holding his hand out for the pressure dressing. Once that was in place he took a moment to assess what was going to happen next because, there was absolutely no way he was going to let Paul slip away from him now. Not after everything.

There was nothing glamorous about maneuvering an injured crew member out of a Jefferies tube, even in the best of circumstances. 

“Hold your horses!” Jett’s voice barked from the bot, hovering at the exit to the tube where Paul’s stretcher waited to be lowered. “Are you trying to kill him? Wait…” The ship shuddered again. “Ok. Activate the antigrav supports now. You got a hold buttercup?”

“I’ve got him,” Hugh said, flexing his grip on the head on the stretcher. He shouldn’t need to take the weight but he would if something went wrong.

“Well come on Ensign Eager, let’s get on with it.” Reno heckled abandoning the bot to call out from the floor beneath them.

 _'All crew, this is Commander Saru. Stations please.'_

“Let’s get this done, Ensign,” Hugh said. “And then you can get to your post.” 

“Yes Sir,” he said, squaring his shoulders. It did take some maneuvering but they managed to get all of them, and the stretcher down the ladder with a minimum of fuss. As the stretcher leveled itself out to hover at about waist height, Hugh ran the scanner over Paul again vaguely aware of Jett dismissing the ensign. He was stable but it wasn’t good and Hugh was increasingly aware that this was going to require much more rehabilitation than was likely to tolerate gracefully.

“Right,” he said to himself as much as anyone. “Let’s get you both to medical.”

“That might be your post but mine’s in…” Jett began before the thrusters engaged and the hull started straining up before snapping back. “Mother trucker!” she cried out , as she fell to the floor. Hugh managed to keep his feet beneath him, one hand resting on the hovering stretcher that rode the wave like a boat on the water.

“Jett?” he asked, as the ship continued to buck and judder around them. Hugh could hear the hull and the ice groaning and creaking and while he had to assume they were trying to take off, it didn’t seem to be going well. 

“I’m ok. I’m ok,” Jett hissed, trying to jam herself into a corner. “You look after sleeping beauty there.”

“What the hell are they playing at?” Hugh asked no one in particular as there was another vicious jerk. The anti-grav dampers on the stretcher couldn’t keep up and it hit the deck with a sharp clang. Paul groaned, closer to consciousness than he’d been in some time and Hugh wished he had more medication on hand. Clearly they weren’t going to make it to sickbay until things had settled down but Hugh knew Tracey would be expecting him back at his post; needed him really, given they were the only two doctors. 

There was a comm unit on the wall a couple of feet away but he didn’t want to leave Paul unmoored. Pulling a secondary strap out from beneath the edge of the stretcher, Hugh tethered it on a long length to a rung on the ladder so there was limit on how far it would drift. Glancing again at Reno, whose quiet was as telling as anything he set off to the comms panel. Hanging on to anything he could, he worked his way across the room trying to predict the rise and fall of the deck beneath his feet. When he made it he activated the channel and tried; “Culber to Pollard.”

“Hugh?” Tracey replied, “Are you alright?”

“I’m ok. I have Paul and Reno but we’re not mobile in this turbulence. How are you down there?”

“We’re ok, I’ve sent out a couple of medics but we haven’t had any new casualties arrive in yet.”

“That won’t last,” Hugh said, as he was thrown to the side and into the wall with another thump. This time, though the engines kept straining and suddenly they seemed to break free; the ship leveling out and the movement slowing enough that the inertial dampers could keep up. “On our way,” Hugh said, cutting the link and crossing quickly back towards his patients. 

Paul was still unconscious but his brow was furrowed now and Hugh smoothed back his hair and kissed his forehead. “Almost there,” he whispered. 

“Ffffff…” Jett breathed, stalling before she managed to get herself upright. “Let’s get outta here and find out what the hell happened.”

“Take a second,” Hugh told her, pulling the tricorder out from the medkit. “This will help get you moving,” he said, pressing the hypo to her neck. “But you are absolutely still coming with us to medical.”

“No argument here, buttercup,” she said wearily. Hugh unfastened the strap securing Paul’s stretcher and eased it into motion as the three of them started to make slow progress out into the corridor. As long as the turbo lifts were running it wouldn’t take them long to get there even at this pace and if they weren’t well… they would deal with that if they had to.

Paul could hear something at the very edge of his senses. His eyes were heavy though, everything was heavy really, so he settled for listening to whatever it was the voice was saying.

“... time I’m going to tie you to that cot if I have to.” It was Hugh. Paul smiled.

“ S’nds f’n,” he managed, his tongue thick.

“Well hello there.” Paul could hear the smile in Hugh’s voice. His hand was resting in Paul’s hair, his thumb brushing gently back and forth across the sensitive spot at the base of his neck.

“Mmm,” Paul sighed, realising the sensations were all very far away. “Good stuff?” 

“Oh yes,” Hugh confirmed. “You have earned yourself an all access pass to all the medication you could want and at least week off duty.” Paul managed to peel open his eyes at this. “Don’t you glare at me Paul Stamets. I’m still deciding just how I’m going to kill you after that stunt.”

“Sorry,” he said, his eyes drifting closed again already. “Love you, Hugh.”

“I love you too,” he replied, squeezing Paul’s hand. “Now rest.” Paul didn’t have much choice in the matter but as he drifted away he returned the grip on Hugh’s fingers.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! So I love this episode SO MUCH. So naturally I started writing fic around it :)  
> I hope you've enjoyed and as ever I'd love to hear your thoughts either way.  
> LHA x


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